Clashes Intensify in Tripoli as Death Toll Reaches 12

Clashes in the northern city of Tripoli intensified Wednesday afternoon, a day after fierce battles rocked the city, claiming the lives of at least 12 people.

Meanwhile, the meetings of the leaders of the Bab al-Tabbaneh's fighting frontiers failed to reach an agreement on a ceasefire in the city, LBCI television revealed.

MTV reported that the battles have intensified in the afternoon, adding that "all indications suggest that Tripoli will witness fierce battles in the evening."

"Four people got wounded when a mortar shell fell on Tripoli's Jabal Mohsen neighborhood. One of the men is in serious condition," it said.

Al-Jadeed television detailed saying that fierce clashes are ongoing in the Hariri Project-al-Amerkan Square area in Tripoli.

"Traffic has stopped on the international highway between Tripoli and Akkar due to sniper activity," it noted.

"Gunshots were heard in the Bab al-Tabbaneh and al-Barraniyeh neighborhoods in Tripoli."

"The army has brought in more reinforcements to the Bab al-Tabbaneh area," Future TV remarked.

The state-run National News Agency reported that 12 people were killed, including two soldiers, and around 130 others wounded in the clashes that erupted over the weekend.

Earlier in the day, sporadic gunfire and sniper activity violated the cautious calm in the northern city.

Tens of homes were damaged by the fighting and families fled to safer areas.

Future TV said that the Nashabeh Mosque, which lies between Syria Street and Jabal Mohsen, went up in flames after it was hit during the clashes.

Attempts to calm things down in the city failed after two rounds of talks between al-Mustaqbal MP Mohammed Kabbara and the leaders of the fighting frontiers in Bab al-Tabbaneh failed to reach an agreement on a ceasefire.

Kabbara told LBCI: "All of Tripoli's politicians are asking the army to end the clashes, but in a fair way that doesn't aggrieve anyone."

The leaders are set to resume talks later tonight.

Caretaker Prime Minister Najib Miqati stressed that the Lebanese army has the complete jurisdictions to take the necessary measures to halt the clashes in the city and detain security violators.

He added: “I call on all leaderships and Tripoli authorities to adhere to the policy of disassociation, which was adopted when the government was in power and is being violated by internal forces after its resignation.”

“I call on all sides to follow reason and exercise restraint over the developments in Tripoli,” he continued.

He urged officials following up talks with security leaders over the situation in the city to cooperate with the army and security forces and to lift the political cover off violators.

Prime Minister-designate Tammam Salam telephoned Army chief General Jean Qahwaji, who briefed him on the security situation in Tripoli and the measures taken by the army to stop the clashes.

The army has been deployed in the area since the outbreak but has failed to halt the fighting in the town, where clashes have frequently broken out since the March 2011 beginning of the conflict in neighboring Syria.

The Arab Democratic Party pledged later in the day to remain committed to a cease fire, ordering its supporters to exercise restraint and not to respond to the fire sources.

The largely Sunni city is home to a small community of Alawites, an offshoot of Shiite Islam to which Syrian President Bashar Assad belongs.

Clashes have often pitted residents of the Sunni district of Bab el-Tebbaneh against those from the neighboring Alawite area of Jabal Mohsen.

The latest round began as the Assad regime launched an assault on the rebel stronghold of Qusayr, near the border with Lebanon.